“Please, please, please!”
“I’m sorry young man, but no matter how many times you ask, I’m not going to help you,” the professor said as he kept walking without turning his head. This was Andrew Walker. He was known to be a calm and collected man who didn’t interact much with his students beyond some pleasantries and questions about the lessons.
He was also Alec’s Arcana 201 professor.
“I can help you with some… lab work?”
“Look,” the professor finally stopped and turned to Alec. “The materials and mana to create a mana brain are not cheap. And I doubt you can provide me with enough value. Especially with your lack of memories.”
Alec sighed and looked around. Just as Professor Andrew was about to walk away, he stepped forward one last time.
“Give me a way...”
“What?” The Professor asked. He uncomfortably shifted in his place and grabbed the books under his right arm with his left hand.
“Give me a way to prove myself,” Alec explained. The Professor sighed deeply and thought for a moment. He then rifled through the stack of books under his arm briefly and took out a clump of papers held together by a paperclip.
“You want a way to prove yourself? Go for it. Take these and study. Tomorrow, you will do a presentation,” Professor Andrew said before quickening his steps and disappearing.
“You didn’t have to teleport…” Alec muttered to himself before pinching the corner of the stack. There were a total of five papers, all filled with jumbled-up formulas and half-complete magic circles. “What’s this..?”
“Magic axis… Circle disposition… 1st circle?” Alec kept reading while scratching his head. “Is this a new spell?”
The spell circle trying to be created was completely dysfunctional. None of the parts of the spell worked in combination and some were even internally inconsistent. If Alec tried constructing a spell with this circle, the best result would be nothing happening. The worst, on the other hand, could cause him to kill himself.
‘Irresponsible bastard. What if I accidentally killed myself while trying this out?’ Alec thought to himself. For now, he couldn’t understand what the magic circle was supposed to entail. There were some parts similar to telekinetic magic, some similar to arcane… There was even a part where Alec found similar to thunder magic, which was a rather newly recovered branch from the records of the ancient civilizations. ‘In the end, I am not going to be able to solve this by myself. Using The Author’s Pen is also out of the question, as I don’t even know what this circle is supposed to be.’
Going through a list of names in his head, Alec’s mind settled on a person who could possibly help him.
‘Edward…’
Edward Spellson was a very famous student, and this wasn’t only because he was the leader of the student body. His magical feats were pretty much unrivaled throughout the third year. Many people looked up to him as a role model.
‘The question is, will he actually help me with this? Never mind, I’ll never know if I don’t try it,’ Alec thought. Turning around, he started heading back to the dorms.
***
“So you want me to help you figure out what these papers are about,” Edward repeated Alec’s question to him. He crossed his arms and thought with his eyes closed for a brief moment. “Dealing with unknown and new magic is very dangerous, Alec. I would like something in return if you want me to help you.”
“Uhm… That will depend on what you want from me,” Alec answered as he looked around while pulling on his necktie. He was currently inside the student council room, which was roughly 50m2. It had a mixture of vibrant earthy colors with dark-greenish touches here and there.
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There were two long tables to the sides, each manned by three student council members who looked intently at Alec all the while dealing with documents non-stop. On the opposite side of the entrance, in front of two huge windows, a more robust office table made of dark wood was placed. Behind it sat Edward, who was looking at Alec with his hands joined under his chin.
“Very well,” he said. Suddenly slamming the table with both his hands and getting up, he caused Alec to jump in place. “Follow me.”
‘Huh, he was very polite when we first talked. But now that I want something from him, he has suddenly become more aggressive,’ Alec mentally commented as he followed Edward through a door further into the room. ‘Well, it’s not like I can do anything about it.’
The room they entered was cozier than the student council’s main office. There were two couches placed next to a low table, some lights, some plants to lighten up the mood, and a pile of…
“Board games..?” Alec muttered with a tinge of confusion in his voice. Why did the student council have such a room?
“What? We can’t have fun because we are supposed to be working all day. I’m sorry to break it to you but we are also students,” Edward said jokingly, which greatly lowered Alec’s tension. “What I want from you is simple.”
‘There we go…’ Alec thought nervously as Edward sat down on one of the couches and gestured for Alec to sit on the opposite.
“We are going to have a Magikards duel,” Edward said as he reached out to a secret compartment under the table and brought out a Magikards bag.
‘What?’
“What?” Alec’s internal monologue suddenly got jumbled up with his speech.
“No need to be surprised. This is common practice among the mages of this school, especially for the students. Remember, we are not enemies. When we can, it is good to help each other,” Edward explained as he started quickly searching through the deck. Occasionally, he would pick one card from the deck and place it either to his right or to his left. “The important thing is to decide whether or not you deserve the help.”
“Oh…” Alec exclaimed. No matter how confused he was, he still found the trade-off pleasant. Even if he lost, he wouldn’t lose anything other than an opportunity. ‘Opportunities can be found, I just need to not-’
“By the way, to make this a fair trade, you’ll have to give me a stake too,” Edward said as he kept building the decks.
‘At least let me finish thinking,’ Alec mentally muttered.
He was about to take out his own deck from his pocket, but Edward cast a spell and tried yanking it away from his hand. Although he failed at first because of Alec’s unexpected strength, he just increased the amount of mana he fed to the spell and took the cards away anyway. “No need, I am going to be giving you the deck you are going to be playing.”
“What? But how can I use cards for the first time and win against you?” Alec asked with furrowed brows.
“Don’t worry. I’ve accounted for your capabilities. This is definitely a fight that you can win,” Edward answered calmly. Alec had no choice, as Edward had every bit of advantage in this trade.
“I’m sorry but I don’t think I have anything I can put as a stake,” Alec said helplessly. He couldn’t write some potions and give it to Edward as that would raise suspicion.
“No you do,” Edward answered. He stopped separating cards for a moment to think before continuing. “You can do free labor for the student council. I’ve heard you are pretty studious and strict about the way you go about things. That’s exactly what we need over here.”
“You want me to..?” Alec tried to confirm. Edward nodded and smiled. He had reached the bottom of the deck and was done separating the cards.
“I want you to join the student council if you lose,” Edward said with a smile on his face. Alec sighed deeply and nodded along.
“Okay. If I lose, I will join the student council. If you lose, you help me with the magic circle,” Alec reached out his hand. However, under his unwilling demeanor, he was already rejoicing.
‘Joining the student council means power! Both political and literal. This is a win-win situation for me! As long as this isn’t some shady place where they work people to death, I should be able to deal with it.’
Obviously, Alec wasn’t betting his chances on such a dangerous assumption. He had seen the faces of the students back in the main office of the student council. Not only were they physically healthy, but they were also faces that Alec recognized.
‘The only people I know in this school are either my friends or people who are both influential and powerful. These people belong to the second category. If they were being bogged down by student council work, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with their training and fall behind in their studies.’
“That’s a deal then,” Edward answered before shaking Alec’s hand. He then took one of the decks he had prepared and handed it to Alec before picking up his.
‘Alright. Let’s… See..?’ Alec thought before he realized something strange about his cards.
‘Dash magic… Magic missile..? The Avatar card… These are…’ Alec read through the cards handed to him and looked up at Edward.
“These are..?”